The girl freezes in place when I switch to an elderly man by the window. I turn to Enigma, exposing my dentures in a wide grin. My voice wheezes when I talk. "Their synthetic brains are constructed as near-exact replicas of our own. The fact that they're artificial is what makes core-jacking possible."
I swap cores again, this time into a muscular man in gym clothes. Standing up, I walk toward Enigma. "The human mind has automatic defenses, subconsciously resisting if an attempt is made to intrude. But the synoid brain lacks the intuitive instinct to resist a psionic takeover. And once I'm inside, I can do anything I want. Override their directives so that they can harm humans."
My hand shoots out, seizing Enigma by the throat. "Even take a life, if you force me to."
She stares at me, making no move to resist. I can feel the pulse in her neck, the quickening of her heart. She's afraid. With a synoid's superior strength, I can snap her bones with ease, and she knows it. The fear shimmers in her eyes, but she only clenches her jaw in determination.
"Are you going to kill me, Specter? Without even knowing why I called you here?"
I cast myself from the synoid into my original body, steadying myself as a wave of dizziness follows. I shake my head, dispelling the queasiness.
Enigma realizes what happens and moves to pry the fingers still latched to her throat. "Wait, Specter. Don't run. You'll only make it harder on yourself."
I pause just long enough to shoot her a scornful glance. "I knew I couldn't trust you. You're too damn pretty."
Whirling around, I vault over a table and run out the door, bumping into a pair of giggling teenagers. I shove them aside and run across the plaza, ignoring their angry shouts. I'm more concerned when a squad of black suits dashes around the corner. They have identical haircuts and sunglasses. A tall, slender Sentry leads them. Dressed in all-black, he is shaved bald, cybernetics winking from his head and the visor covering his eyes. His skin is chalk-white, his lips blood red. Sentries all have that vampire look, and it creeps me out every time. He points a black-gloved hand my direction.
"Take him."
I skid to a stop, turn, and run the other direction. The plaza is just a blur — brightly lit boutique signs, neatly arranged food court tables, tiny park squares with cloned foliage. People stop and stare or leap out the way as I dart past with my pursuers hot on my heels.
The exit door at the far end bursts open, admitting a squad of black-armored troopers. I don't hesitate. Turning, I race across the plaza center, leaping across a marble fountain. From the corner of my eye, I see Enigma emerge from the sushi shop. She says something, but I ignore her. Running at top speed, I leap toward the massive windows on the other side. The plaza is on the one hundred fifty-first floor of the Grand Center Tower, but I don't think about that when I launch myself at the glass. If I were flesh and blood, I would rebound off the gleaming surface without so much of a crack.
But I'm better.
With an explosive boom, I smash through like a rock thrown through a bedroom window. A million glittering shards shower down as the sheer volume of the world outside the building swallows me. The lights are insanely bright — neon everywhere, holographic advertisements, news and information scrolling across towering giants of glass and alloy. Flying traffic whirs by so fast that the vehicles look like laser lights. I'm a speck in a city that blazes too bright to notice, a meteor falling unnoticed across a sky blinded by light pollution.
Fifteen seconds later, my body explodes against concrete.
The connection severs. I blink and sit up in the sensory tub, removing the virtual goggles and oxygen mask while transparent fluid receptors drip from my body. Exiting the tub, I step in the vacuum shower, where the remaining liquid sensors lift from my skin and plaster onto the glass walls. They slide down, pool onto the floor, and whirl into the floor drain to be recycled back into the tub.
I slip into my clothes as I step out the vacuum shower into my ultra-luxury suite.
Interactive globe bed in one corner. Polished dark teak floors, coffee shelving, marigold furnishings. Black granite soaking tub in the marble-tiled bathroom to the side. Floor-to-ceiling windows display a magnificent view of the city: soaring towers, neon lights, art deco architecture blurring the lines between past and present. Fully loaded tech nook in another corner, projecting a holographic display of the latest news and info into the center of the room. I walked through the projection, canceling the feed. A massive mirror faces me from the opposite side of the room. A tall, well-built man reflects from the glass. Hair like wet ink, chiseled cheekbones, strong jawline, piercing blue eyes. My lie. My illusion.
"Did something go wrong?"
Hel lounges on a velvet chaise in a clinging nightgown; raven hair shimmering, a flute of champagne in hand. Anticipating a victory, she's dressed for the occasion.
I quickly pass her, going to the tech nook. "It was a setup. Cyber Corp was there."
She leaps to her feet, clothing changing in a snap. Now she's in blue and black tactical armor, a flak helmet on her head. "Cyber Corp? Are you sure?"
"A Sentry was on the grounds, Hel — a Sentry. You know what that means. Cyber Corp is on to me."
"What about your host?"
I type a coding sequence into the computer. "I couldn't save it. Jumped out a building, but they still might be able to salvage something. I'm scrubbing this safehouse. Transfer everything to the next one."
"I told you I should have been there to watch your back."
"And I told you that wasn't an option. I'm the only one who can core-jack."
She joins me in the hub, opening the transfer program on the other computer. "Where are we going?"
"Final Falls."
"Wouldn't it be better to go underground?"
"We're already underground. The whole point of being an Immerser is going anywhere you want."
"Except here."
"I can't take the risk of being tagged. They’re probably running a trace right now."
"Well if that's the case you have to reboot completely."
I sigh. "Yeah. Gotta face the real world."
She pats my cheek. "It will only be for a little while. I'll have everything set up when you get back."
"Good." I open the interface on the holoband on my wrist, projecting the memory feed from my previous host. Freezing the frame on Enigma's face, I tap the projection and slid it over to Hel.
"Find out who she is."
Hel purses her lips. "She's beautiful. Should I be jealous?"
"She's with Cyber Corp. She knew my name, Hel. My real name. I don't know how, but I need to turn the tables and find out everything about her."
Hel's outfit transforms into ninja garb, all-black stealth suit equipped with swords and other killing blades. Her eyes narrow. "I'll get on it."
"Thanks. I'll see you soon."
She grabs my face and kisses me fiercely. I surrender to her aggression, my arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
She's smiling when she pulls away. "Love you with everything, Dean."
"Love you too. With everything."
I tap the confirmation code, and everything vanishes. The entire penthouse dissipates like a dream and Hel along with it. I'm left in a void of endless white, where nothing exists but me. A washout of suffocating isolation that unnerves me every time. I'm relieved when my holoband flashes and a voice speaks through the datcom in my ear.
"Syncing with the master host in three… two… one."
The world goes dark.
I blink my eyes open, wincing from the harsh blades of light that slash my corneas. My skin explodes with the awakening, goosebumps prickling from the refrigerated air. I gasp out gusts of vapor, clouding the viewport in front of my face. Lifting my trembling, emaciated arm, I tap the green button on the side of the Deep Sleep pod. The door hisses open, creating billows of steam when the frigid air meets the humidity outside.